Disbarred lawyer sentenced to up to 22 years for masterminding real estate schemes

A brilliant but disbarred lawyer was sentenced to 11 to 22 years in prison Friday for masterminding a series of real estate schemes that bilked unwitting clients and home buyers out of more than $1 million.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Alexander Jeong handed down the stiff punishment to ex-attorney Domenick Crispino, calling his crimes "reprehensible" because he used his impressive intelligence for evil.

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"It kills me that you used that intelligence to victimize these people," Jeong said to Crispino, who graduated from Georgetown University's prestigious law school.

Crispino was convicted last month on a litany of charges, including grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and falsifying business records.

A jury found him guilty of preying on financially strapped Brooklyn homeowners between 2011 and 2015 by promising to help save their properties from foreclosure.

Despite losing his law license in 1999, Crispino held himself out as an attorney to gain his victim's trust, prosecutors said.

Instead of helping them, he siphoned away hundreds of thousands of dollars that the homeowners had given him to hold in escrow accounts to pay down their mortgages.

In one con, he swindled nearly $600,000 from a man trying to help his elderly friend save his Bath Beach home.

In another scheme, he forged a satisfaction of mortgage record and a deed transfer in which he claimed a financially strapped homeowner sold him her Gravesend property for $10. Then he swindled a $47,5000 down payment out of a prospective buyer.

In all he stole nearly $1.1 million, according to prosecutors.

"This defendant can only be described as a financial predator, stealing as much money as he could from as many victims as he could find," acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.

"Using his knowledge of the law, he repeatedly exploited the victims to enrich himself. I will not allow con artists to profit from Brooklyn's rising home values, and my office will continue to target shameful frauds like these."

Crispino, who is married, has a daughter and lives in Staten Island, declined to address his conviction before his sentencing Friday, telling the judge he planned to appeal the verdict.